NPR News Now - NPR News: 05-21-2025 6AM EDT

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

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Imagine, if you will, a show from NPR that's not like NPR, a show that focuses not on the important but the stupid, which features stories about people smuggling animals in their pants and competent criminals in ridiculous science studies, and call it Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me Because the Good Names Were Taken. Listen to NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Yes, that is what it is called wherever you Get Your Podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, on Korova Coleman, President Trump says the U.S. is going to start work on a new missile defense shield.

He's calling it the Golden Dome. Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they're launched from space. Trump claims the project will cost around 175 billion dollars and can be finished in three years. Experts say that's unlikely. They doubt it will be limited to that price. The Congressional Budget Office estimates a missile shield program for the US could cost at a minimum half a trillion dollars. A federal judge held a hearing late yesterday on a case involving the federal government's deportation of migrants.

This time, the case involves migrants from one country who came to the U.S. illegally but are deported to a third country that's not their own. And Piers Jimenez-Bustillo explains. Massachusetts federal judge Brian Murphy held an emergency hearing on Tuesday night over these third country deportations, this time to South Sudan. Immigration lawyers say at least one Vietnamese man was sent to South Sudan in Africa despite political instability there. Murphy said if that were true, then this would violate his April order, which barred deportations

to these countries where migrants aren't originally from, unless people get sufficient time to contest their deportations, and a notice in their native language. The federal judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security to keep in its custody any migrants deported to South Sudan until he ensures they receive sufficient due process before their removals. Jimena Bustillo, NPR News, Washington. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be on the ground in St. Louis today to survey tornado damage. As St. Louis Public Radio's Hiba Akhmand reports, city officials have shared more details about

last Friday's storm. During a press conference on Monday, St. Louis Mayor Kara Spencer said the tornado siren system failed to warn residents to take shelter. There was a failure, a human failure, a failure in protocol to get the sirens up and running to let the community know that there was a massive weather event hitting our community. The tornado, which had wind speeds of up to 150 miles per hour and stretched at least a mile wide, tore through residential areas leaving homes and local businesses in rubble. Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe says after FEMA completes its survey, he will ask for a major disaster declaration from President Donald Trump, which would open up federal assistance.

For NPR News, I'm Hiba Ahmed in St. Louis. Severe storms rolled through several states yesterday, and tornadoes were reported from Illinois to Alabama. Reports from northern Alabama say the storms were heaviest in that part of the state. Another reported tornado caused damage in Tennessee. The website, poweroutage.us, says that there are tens of thousands of customers

without electricity in Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Georgia, and North Carolina. This is NPR. President Trump hosts the President of South Africa today at the White House. Relations between both nations are fraying. Trump has moved to cut USAID to South Africa and expelled the nation's ambassador. Trump also granted refugee status to dozens of white South Africans. He claims they've been subjected to genocide. He's never proved that claim.

It has been refuted by South Africa's government. The maker of the popular video game, Fortnite, is celebrating. After nearly five year ban, Fortnite is now available again in Apple's App Store. NPR's Giles Snyder reports. The return to the Apple App Store is a big win for Epic Games, a video game company behind Fortnite,

which posted on social media that Fortnite is back and linking to the games page in the App Store for iPhones and iPads. Epic Games launched Fortnite in 2017. It quickly became wildly popular, but was removed from the App Store by Apple some three years later. The two have been locked in a legal battle ever since

over the commission Apple charged for in-app purchases. Although Epic lost a claim that Apple was operating an illegal monopoly, a federal judge late last month found Apple in violation of a court order to ease control over in-app payments and allow for links to other payment options. Trial Snyder, NPR News. The iconic Indianapolis 500 auto race is this weekend, but this Friday the Speedway says it's hosting the Weenie 500. Six of the famous Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles will race each other. Each Wienermobile will represent a different region of the U.S. and it will be styled on

their local style of hot dog. I'm Corva Coleman, NPR News. When the Star Wars prequels came out, they were polarizing. style of hot dog.